Nearly 70% of Australians registered with My Health Record have their medical histories recorded in the system, according to research by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA).

According to the ADHA report, Statistics and Insights to April 2020, there were 22.75 million records stored by My Health Record, with more than 10 million records filled with data since the voluntary opt-out period for Australians concluded in January 2019.

Nearly two billion documents have been uploaded to the digital storage system. The majority of those documents coming from Medicare and just under 10% coming from members of the public and healthcare providers.

The top five things people want to access are their latest scans and results, notes from their GP, information on medicines they have been prescribed, Medicare information and their immunisation status.

The research indicated that in total 10 million people had their immunisation records uploaded, “[with a] 40% increase in April due to a bulk upload of these important documents,” the ADHA said.

President of the Australian Medical Association’s SA branch, and ADHA Clinical Reference Lead, Dr Chris Moy, said it was important to keep track of immunisation records.

“Immunisations protect you from transmitting disease to vulnerable people who can’t respond nearly as well to vaccination – newborn babies, people with compromised immune systems or the elderly,” Dr Moy said.

“And it reduces the burden on our healthcare system by avoiding preventable diseases such as influenza and measles which might otherwise require hospital care… This is why knowing if your immunisations are up to date is important – for your health, for that of your family and for anyone you come in contact with”.